As the expense of conducting by-elections in 36 councils, the most of which are located outside of Adelaide, is expected to rise, the three South Australian mayors who were removed for failing to file forms indicating contributions to their election campaigns have been named.
Matt Larwood of Prospect, Geoff Churchett of Tumby Bay, and Phill Stone of Whyalla are the mayors who have lost their jobs as a result of missing the deadline on Wednesday for submitting their disclosure returns.
Another 42 council members are also impacted, the majority of whom come from rural districts.
Unless they prevail in an appeal before the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, they will lose their places for failing to submit a form regarding any gifts they received during their election campaigns to the Electoral Commission of South Australia (SACAT).
Geoff Brock, the minister for local government, addressed the issue in state parliament on Thursday.
Prior to 2021, candidates for council elections had to submit their forms reporting gifts worth more than $500 to the chief executive of the council; however, the Local Government Association requested that this be transferred to the Electoral Commission.
The small council on the Eyre Peninsula may have to open election nominations for the third time in six months now that the mayorship of Tumby Bay is vacant.
At the statewide local government elections held in November, only two candidates submitted names for the six open councillor positions; the former mayor, Mr. Churchett, was elected without opposition.
In a follow-up election scheduled for March, nine more candidates have put their names forward for the four open councillor slots.
If more than one candidate files for the role of mayor, a new by-election will be held.
According to the law, a person loses their office if they don’t submit the form on time.
The mayor had turned in his paperwork, but District Council of Tumby Bay CEO Rebecca Hayes claimed he was uncertain of the deadline and the community suffered as a result.
She claimed that while the new techniques might be effective in Adelaide, councils in the state’s rural and regional locations would not be able to use them.
The digital divide in our country is still quite wide, according to Ms. Hayes.
Ratepayers will be responsible for paying the up to $15,000 cost of the additional election, according to her estimate.
To be reappointed, the mayor intends to submit an application to SACAT.
There may need to be by-elections in Whyalla for two councillor posts in addition to the mayor’s office.
On Monday, a temporary mayor will be picked.
In the election held in November, Mr. Stone defeated fellow councilor Tom Antonio.
After longtime mayor David O’Loughlin resigned, Mr. Larwood defeated former Liberal MP Rachel Sanderson in a five-way race in Prospect.
In South Australia, voting in council elections is not required.
The mayors, council members, and unsuccessful candidates allegedly received 12 reminders from the Electoral Commission concerning their disclosure duties.
On Friday, a number of elected officials voiced their displeasure over the fact that they just received the final letter the day before the deadline and that the website for submitting forms was challenging to use and sometimes collapsed.
Dean Johnson, mayor of Kimba and head of the Local Government Association of South Australia, declared today that “there are issues in the system.”
We require a thorough inquiry because the matter is very difficult.
Mick Sherry, the electoral commissioner, disagreed that the disclosure procedure needed to change.
It’s regrettable that we’re in this situation right now despite these significant efforts, he said.
Moving future, there are several things that we might think about modifying, such as hiring a large number of people to grasp these candidates’ hands and continually remind them of their responsibility to prevent this potential scenario.
The deadline for SACAT appeal applications is Monday.
Mr. Johnson expressed his expectation that some wiggle room would be used.
It will be fascinating to watch how SACAT handles this because the law is fairly prescriptive, he added.
